OMNI
GAZA NEWSLETTER NO. 7
BUILDING A CULTURE OF
PEACE, JUSTICE, AND ECOLOGY. April 8, 2015.
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of
Peace and Justice.
(#1: 3-3-08; #2 Nov. 16, 2012; #3 Nov. 17, 2013; #4 May 31, 2014; #5 July
28, 2014; #6 August 30, 2014).
What’s
at stake: Not only was ‘Operation
Protective Edge’ the third major military assault on Gaza in six years, but it
was marked by a significant escalation in the scale, severity and duration of
the attack. It was Israel’s heaviest assault on the Gaza Strip since the
beginning of its occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967. Russell Tribunal
My
blog: War Department/Peace Department
My
Newsletters:
Index:
See: Israeli Aggressions, Israeli-Palestinian
Newsletter
See
at end for Contents of Nos. 5 and 6.
Contents
of Gaza Newsletter #7
Dick, Conversion of US Funds
Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Sept. 25, 2014
Twelve Articles Report the Siege of Gaza, by the Washington Report on Middle
East Affairs
East Affairs
Gaza’s Ark’s Weekly Digest
Gaza’s Ark’s Weekly Digest, Dec. 27, 2014
Noam Chomsky, Brutal Israeli Occupation
Two Reports from Democracy
Now
Henry Siegman, “A Slaughter of Innocents”
Amy
Goodman and Denis Moynihan, “The Guns of August,” Context of WWI
Three Articles by Marjorie Cohn, Our Country’s Truth
and Justice Conscience
Debra DeLee, Americans
for Peace Now Available Online Free Daily
Contact
President Obama
Just War Theory,
Proportionality, and Sending US Funds to the Victims by Dick Bennett
What
to do with the $3 billion a year US military largesse to Israel? Joe Jeffers of Arkadelphia, AR, offers one
better use of some of the money. In a
letter to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (3-22-15) Jeffers argues: the US should “contribute significantly
toward the rebuilding of Gaza, taking those monies out of payments to
Israel.” He offers one good argument: “If Israel had to…pay for the destruction it
causes, perhaps it would be less inclined to be so aggressive.”
Another
argument for the conversion of funds from destruction to construction even more
persuasive for me is expressed in Catholic Just War Theory, and particularly in
its “proportionality” principle. This
theory has two parts, and what makes proportionality stand out is its presence
in both. Under Jus ad Bellum appear eight criteria that must be met in order for a
war to be considered just. To meet the
criterion of proportionality the destruction to be inflicted and the costs
incurred by war must be proportionate to the good expected by taking up arms.
Under Jus in Bello are criteria that
must be met in order for actions within war to be considered just. For Jus in Bello proportionality, destruction caused
by actions in war must be proportionate to the good expected by the actions. In both parts of the theory, destruction
applies in both the temporal and spiritual, material and ethical sense.
The disproportion between the few rockets
fired from Gaza and the few Israeli people killed or wounded by them, and the
small damage to property, compared to the massive Israeli land and air
invasion, causing a large number of killed and wounded and massive property
damage, is acknowledged by all, including many Israelis. Amy Goodman’s summary: “After nearly 50 days
of the bombardment of Gaza with Israel’s intensely lethal, high-tech,
U.S.-funded arsenal, Palestinian health officials put the number of Gazans
killed at 2,139, of whom over 490 were children. Israel reported 64 soldiers
killed as a result of its ground invasion of Gaza, with six civilians dead. The
narrow Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated places on Earth, suffering
under an Israeli-imposed state of siege, is now a pile of rubble through which
people pick, searching for the bodies of loved ones.” (“Guns of August,” August 28, 2014). See the Russell Tribunal and other reports
for additional details of the devastating invasion.
Summary of findings: “The
Gaza War (2014) under International Law: An Inquiry
into Israel’s Crimes, Responsibility, and the Response of the International
Community”.
Russell Tribunal on
Palestine
Extraordinary session Brussels, 25
September 2014
Jury: John Dugard, Miguel Angel
Estrella, Christiane Hessel, Richard Falk, Ronnie Kasrils, Paul Laverty, Ken
Loach, Michael Mansfield, Radhia Nasraoui, Vandana Shiva, Ahdaf Soueif and
Roger Waters. Witnesses: Paul Behrens, Desmond Travers, David Sheen, Eran
Efrati, Mohammed Omer, Mads Gilbert, Mohammed Abou Arab, Paul Mason, Martin
Lejeune, Ashraf Mashharawi, Ivan Karakashian, Max Blumenthal, Agnes Bertrand,
Michael Deas. May this tribunal prevent the crime of
silence. Bertrand Russell, London, 13
November 1966
- When images of the death,
destruction and desperation inflicted on Palestinian citizens of Gaza were
broadcast in July and August of 2014, people all over the world were
struck with a visceral sense of indignation, anger and disgust. For too
long, crimes and serious human rights violations have been committed
against the Palestinian people by the occupying Israeli authorities with
complete impunity. The occupation, blockade and siege imposed on the
territory of Gaza amount to a regime of collective punishment, but the
most recent conflict represents a clear intensification of the campaign to
collectively punish and terrorise the civilian population. Not only was ‘Operation
Protective Edge’ the third major military assault on Gaza in six years,
but it was marked by a significant escalation in the scale, severity and
duration of the attack. It was Israel’s heaviest assault on the Gaza Strip
since the beginning of its occupation of the Palestinian territories in
1967. Given this cyclical and devastating pattern of violence and the
likelihood of its continuation, the members of the Tribunal were conscious
of the need to give a voice to the people of Gaza and to express the
overwhelming need for urgent action. The Russell Tribunal on Palestine
hopes to act as a voice of conscience and to contribute some measure of
accountability for these appalling and inhumane acts.
- Over the course of the 50-day conflict,
some 700 tons of ordinance were deployed by the Israeli military forces in
the context of a sustained aerial bombardment and ground offensive. This
approximate figure equates to the dropping of two tons of ordinance per
square kilometre of the Gaza Strip. These actions resulted in: the deaths
of 2,188 Palestinians, at least 1,658 of whom were civilians; 11,231
civilians injured; damage to 18,000 housing units (13% of all available
housing stock in Gaza was completely or partially destroyed); the internal
displacement of some 110,000 civilians; the complete destruction of eight
medical facilities and damage to many others, such that 17 out of 32
hospitals were damaged and six closed down as a result; massive
destruction of water facilities leaving some 450,000 civilians unable to
access municipal water supplies; the destruction of Gaza’s only power
plant facility rendering the entire Gaza Strip without electricity for
approximately 20 hours per day, thereby having a profound impact on water
treatment, food supply and the capacity of medical facilities to treat the
wounded and displaced; numerous attacks on and destruction of UN sponsored
and controlled infrastructure, including three UNRWA schools which were
being used as temporary centres of refuge; the total destruction of some
128 business and approximately US$550 million worth of damage caused to
agricultural land and livestock; attacks on cultural and religious
property; and finally, the conflict has left some 373,000 children in need
of direct and specialised psychosocial support. The attack was widespread
and systematic to the extent that the Palestinian Authority estimates that
it will require US$7.8 billion to repair the damage caused to civilian and
state infrastructure.
- The Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RToP)
is an international citizen-based Tribunal of conscience, created in
response to the demands of civil society (non-governmental organisations,
unions, charities, faith-based organisations) to educate public opinion
and exert pressure on decision-makers. The RToP is imbued with the same
spirit and espouses the same rigorous rules as those inherited from the
Tribunal on Vietnam (1966-1967), established by the eminent scholar and
philosopher Bertrand Russell. The Tribunal operates as a court of the
people, with public international law (including international human
rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal
law) constitutes the frame of reference of the Russell Tribunal on
Palestine.
- Following Israel’s military operations in
the Gaza Strip in July-August 2014, a decision was taken to urgently
reconvene the RToP for a extraordinary session to examine the nature of
potential international crimes committed in Gaza. During the course of
this extraordinary session the RToP has received testimony from some
sixteen individual witnesses providing eyewitness and expert opinion on a
range of issues of direct relevance to the events in Gaza in the summer of
2014. The members of the Tribunal jury were moved and deeply disturbed by
the harrowing evidence provided by the witnesses. Following the hearings
and the deliberations of the jury on 24 September 2014, the findings of
the extraordinary session of Russell Tribunal on Palestine are summarised
as follows. 3
The Use of Force
5. Israel is the occupying power in the Gaza
Strip. As the occupier, Israel cannot be considered to be acting in
self-defence under the rules of public international law in its resort to the
use of force in Gaza. Israel did not respond to an armed attack by the military
forces of another state; rather it acted as an occupying power using force to
effect its control of the occupied territory and its domination over the
occupied population. Under international law, people living under colonial rule
or foreign occupation are entitled to resist occupation. Israel’s actions are
those of an occupying power using force to maintain its occupation and to
suppress resistance, rather than a state resorting to force in lawful
selfdefence. The ongoing occupation of Palestinian territories is itself an act
of aggression as defined by the UN General Assembly in Resolution 3314 (1974);
the Tribunal notes that an aggressor cannot claim self-defence against the
resistance to its aggression. Operation Protective Edge was part of the
enforcement of the occupation and ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip. This siege
amounts to collective punishment in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth
Geneva Convention. II. War Crimes
6. The evidence provided by the witnesses who
appeared before the RToP covers only a tiny fraction of the incidents that
occurred during Operation Protective Edge. Their testimony, however, coupled
with the extensive documentation of Israel’s attacks in the public realm, leads
inescapably to the conclusion that the Israeli military has committed war
crimes in the process. Israel forces have violated the two cardinal principles
of international humanitarian law – the need to distinguish clearly between
civilian targets and military targets; and the need for the use of military
violence to be proportionate to the aims of the operation. It has done so
through the scale of its bombardment of Gaza and its shelling of civilian
areas, including hospitals, schools and mosques. An estimated 700 tons of
munitions were employed by the Israeli military during the operation, in
contrast to 50 tons during Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09. Civilians in Gaza
have been terrorised by this bombardment, as well as denied the right to flee
the territory to seek protection and assistance as refugees from war in breach
of the right to leave one’s country pursuant to article 13 (2) of the UN
Declaration on Human Rights.
7. Evidence heard by the Tribunal suggests that
war crimes committed by Israeli forces include (but are not limited to) the
crimes of: o wilful killing (including summary executions by ground troops and
killings of civilians by snipers around houses occupied by Israeli forces
inside Gaza); o extensive destruction of property, not justified by military
necessity (including the destruction of essential services, in particular
Gaza’s only functioning power plant and the apparently systematic targeting of
the water and sewage infrastructure); 4 o intentionally directing attacks
against the civilian population and civilians objects (including extensive and
wanton artillery shelling and aerial bombardment of densely populated civilian
areas); o intentionally launching attacks in the knowledge that such attacks
would cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to
civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural
environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and
direct overall military advantage anticipated (i.e. the use of disproportionate
force, explicitly stated and implemented by the Israeli military in the form of
its ‘Dahiya doctrine’, which involves a policy of deliberately using
disproportionate force to punish the civilian population collectively for the
acts of resistance groups or political leaders); o intentionally directing attacks
against buildings dedicated to religion or education (including repeatedly and
knowingly targeting UN schools operating as places of refuge for civilians); o
intentionally directing attacks against hospitals, medical units and personnel
(including the direct shelling of hospitals resulting in the killing and forced
evacuation of wounded civilians, as well as apparent patterns of the targeting
of visibly marked medical units and ambulance workers performing their duties);
o utilising the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render
certain points, areas or military forces immune from military operations (i.e.
the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields); o employing weapons,
projectiles and material and methods of warfare which are of a nature to cause
superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or which are inherently
indiscriminate (including flechette shells, DIME weapons, thermobaric munitions
(‘carpet’ bombs), and munitions containing depleted uranium); o the use of
violence to spread terror among the civilian population in violation of the
laws and customs of war (including the employment of a ‘knock on the roof’
policy whereby small bombs are dropped on Palestinian homes as a warning signal
in advance of larger bombardments to follow).
8. Allegations of the targeting of civilians
and the use of indiscriminate weapons by the Palestinian resistance during
Operation Protective Edge have been clearly stated in the public realm by the
Israeli authorities. The information available to the Tribunal is that 66
Israeli soldiers and 7 civilians in Israel were killed by Palestinian armed
groups during Operation Protective Edge, with 469 soldiers and 837 civilians
wounded. There is also, however, contradictory information and unclear statistics
from official Israeli sources regarding Palestinian rockets, and Israel’s
military censor has a gag order in effect, making it extremely difficult to
identify where the rockets fell without cooperation from the authorities. The
Israeli authorities did not accept the invitation to appear before the Tribunal
to state their case. This 5 notwithstanding, the RToP emphasises as a matter of
principle that any armed group that directs its firepower at a civilian
population thereby violates the laws of war. Where such firing results in the
deaths of civilians, war crimes will have potentially been committed by those
responsible. Firing weapons which are incapable of making the distinction
between military and civilian target is itself criminal. III. Crimes against Humanity
The Contextual Elements of Crimes Against Humanity
9. For an apparently ‘ordinary’ domestic
criminal act to reach the threshold of a crime against humanity, there are
certain contextual legal elements that must be satisfied. There must be a
widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, and the acts of
the perpetrator must form part of that attack and be committed with knowledge
of the wider context of the attack. Under the Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court, there is an additional legal element to be proven, which is the
existence of a State or organisational policy to commit such an attack. Article
7 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court lists several specific
crimes against humanity: murder; extermination; enslavement; deportation or
forcible transfer of population; imprisonment or other severe deprivation of
physical liberty; torture; rape and sexual violence; persecution; enforced
disappearance; apartheid; and other inhumane acts. While the Tribunal is confident
that findings could be reached under each of these respective headings, given
the specific focus of this extraordinary session and the resources available,
the RToP limits itself to findings with respect to: (i) murder; (ii)
extermination; and (iii) persecution.
10. The preponderance of the evidence received
by the RToP clearly establishes that an attack against a civilian population
has taken place. The sheer scale of civilian deaths, injuries, and the
destruction of civilian housing, provide a clear indication that a prima facie
case can be established that Operation Protective Edge was overwhelmingly
directed at the civilian population of Gaza.
11. In light of the testimony received and
summarised above regarding the extent of the loss of life and destruction of
property caused by Israel, considered alongside the data compiled by the
various offices of the UN and human rights organisations on the ground, the
Tribunal finds that there is compelling evidence establishing a strong prima
facie case that the attack against the civilian population of Gaza was
widespread and systematic.
12. In relation to the policy requirement, the
Tribunal has heard testimony pertaining specifically to three policy directives
of the Israeli military – namely, the Dahiya Doctrine (which involves the
deliberate use of disproportionate force to collectively punish the civilian
population for the acts of resistance groups or political leaders), the
Hannibal Directive (the destruction of an entire area for the purpose of preventing
the capture of Israeli soldiers) and the Red Line policy (which involves the
creation of a ‘kill zone’ beyond an arbitrary and invisible ‘red line’ around
houses occupied by Israeli forces). Each of these policies deliberately and
flagrantly disregard protections afforded to civilians and 6 civilian property
under international humanitarian law, and fundamentally involves indiscriminate
violence against the civilian population of Gaza. As such their implementation
amounts to a prima facie case of a specific policy on the part of the
Government of Israel and the Israeli occupying forces to target civilian areas
with disregard for civilian life. The Tribunal finds that there is a compelling
case to be made that the contextual elements of crimes against humanity, as
outlined above, are satisfied for the purposes of Article 7 of the Statute of
the International Criminal Court; specifically with respect to the selected
crimes of (i) murder; (ii) extermination; and (iii) persecution. (i) Murder
13. The crime against humanity of murder
requires that the perpetrator kills (or caused the death) of one or more
persons. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has
defined murder as the ‘unlawful, intentional killing of a human being’. The RToP
finds that a strong prima facie case can be made that a significant proportion
of the Palestinian civilian fatalities during Operation Protective Edge were
the result of deliberate, unlawful and intentional killings. The RToP has heard
testimony relating to a number of individual incidents, such as the deliberate
execution of Salem Khalil Shammaly for crossing an imaginary red line while
searching for family members in Shuja’iyya and the deeply disturbing
circumstances of the killing of 64 year-old Mohammed Tawfiq Qudeh in his own
home. The RToP finds that their deaths are prima facie examples of the crime
against humanity of murder, in addition to the war crime of wilful killing.
(ii) Extermination
14. Under the Statute of the International
Criminal Court, the crime of extermination includes both mass killings and the
intentional infliction of conditions of life (including depriving access to
food, water or medical treatment) calculated to bring about the destruction of
part of a population. There is therefore a degree of common ground between the
crime against humanity of extermination and the crime of genocide. However,
while the crime of extermination frequently involves a large number of victims,
it differs from genocide in that it does not require that the victim(s) be part
of a protected group, or that the perpetrator had the specific intent to bring
about the destruction of the group in whole or in part.
15. During the course of this extraordinary
session, the RToP has received detailed and wide-ranging testimony with respect
to attacks on civilian populations and protected civilian property which
directly resulted in the mass fatalities. In particular, the Tribunal has
received detailed testimony relating to attacks on medical facilities and
personnel. The deliberate and indiscriminate targeting of medical
infrastructure contributed substantially to the loss of civilian life.
Additional deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure
such as the Gazan power plant also contributed to the increase in the death
toll. Coupled with the denial of a humanitarian corridor, the sealing of the
Erez and Rafah crossings and the targeting of UNRWA infrastructure, this
contributed to the infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about
the destruction of part of the population of Gaza. 7 (iii) Persecution
16. The crime against humanity of persecution
involves the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental human rights
against members of a group or collectivity. The group must be targeted for a
discriminatory purpose, such as on political, racial, national, ethnic,
cultural, gender or religious grounds. This element of discriminatory intent
makes the crime of persecution somewhat similar to the crime of genocide,
although crucially persecution does not require the establishment of a specific
intent to destroy the group in whole or in part. The RToP determines that
persecutory acts may be considered under the following three categories of
conduct: o Discriminatory acts causing physical or mental harm; o
Discriminatory infringements on freedom; o Offences against property for
discriminatory purposes.
17. In line with the findings adopted in
previous sessions of the RToP and the continuing escalation of violence against
the Palestinian people, the Tribunal finds that the actions and policies of the
Government of Israel and the Israeli military are inherently discriminatory
against the Palestinian people. The Tribunal determines that in its actions and
policies the Government of Israel and Israeli military discriminate against the
Palestinian people, and in this instance specifically the people of Gaza, on
the basis of, inter alia, political affiliation, nationality, ethnicity,
religion, culture and gender. The Tribunal finds grounds to believe that a host
of additional crimes and violations of fundamental human rights have been and
continue to be committed on discriminatory grounds against the Palestinian
people and the population of Gaza. In this respect the Tribunal notes the
following non-exhaustive list of violations: murder; torture (including the
case of 16 year old Ahmad Abu Raida, who was abducted by the Israeli military,
whipped with a wire and threatened with sexual assault while under
interrogation, and forced to act as a human shield for the Israelis); sexual
violence (such as Khalil AlNajjar, the imam in Khuza’a who was forced to strip
naked in public); physical violence not constituting torture; cruel and
inhumane treatment or subjection to inhumane conditions; constant humiliation and
degradation; terrorising the civilian population (including examples of Gazan
citizens being instructed by the Israeli military to remain in their homes and
then being subjected to bombardment); unlawful arrest and detention;
imprisonment or confinement; restrictions on freedom of movement (including the
denial of a humanitarian corridor or ability to leave the territory of Gaza);
and the confiscation or destruction of private dwellings, businesses, religious
buildings, cultural or symbolic buildings or means of subsistence. 8 IV.
Genocide
18. The international crime of genocide relates
to any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in
part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: a. Killing
members of the group; b. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of
the group; c. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life
calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d.
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e. Forcibly
transferring children of the group to another group.
19. Direct and public incitement to genocide is
also an international crime, irrespective of whether anyone acts as a result of
the incitement.
20. It is clear that the Palestinians
constitute a national group under the definition of genocide. It has been
established that Israeli military activities considered under the heads of war
crimes and crimes against humanity meet the acts set forth in sub-paragraphs
(a) to (c) above.
21. The crime of genocide is closely related to
crimes against humanity. Where persecution as a crime against humanity aims to
protect specific groups from discrimination, the criminalisation of genocide
aims to protect such groups (national, racial, ethnic, religious) from
elimination. The sometimes fine distinction between the two crimes,
characterised by the ‘intent to destroy’ element, was explained by the judges
at the Yugoslavia Tribunal: ‘When persecution escalates to the extreme form of
wilful and deliberate acts designed to destroy a group or part of a group, it
can be held that such persecution amounts to genocide.’
22. Israel’s policies and practices in
Palestine have for decades aimed at ensuring that Palestinians submit to
Israeli domination. This has been effected through settler colonial policies
based on the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians since the
establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. This process continues today
through the settlement of the West Bank and imposition of a regime of apartheid
and segregation, the siege of Gaza and the prolonged collective punishment of
its people, as well as the criminal conduct of repeated military operations and
systemic violations of Palestinian human rights designed to ensure that Palestinians
forfeit their right to self-determination and continue to leave their country.
23. Throughout that period, Israel’s occupation
policies appeared to be aimed at the control and subjugation of the Palestinian
people, rather than their physical destruction as such. Recent years have seen
an upsurge in vigilante style ‘price tag’ attacks on Palestinian people, homes,
and religious sites in the West Bank and Israel. Characterised by racist
threats against Palestinians, such rhetoric escalated rapidly and across all
forms of media and public discourse in Israel during the summer of 2014. The 9
scale and intensity of Operation Protective Edge indicates an unprecedented
escalation of violence against the Palestinian people. For this reason, the
RToP is compelled to now, for the first time, give serious examination to
Israeli policy in light of the prohibition of genocide in international law.
24. The Tribunal has received evidence
demonstrating a vitriolic upswing in racist rhetoric and incitement during the
summer of 2014. The evidence shows that such incitement manifested across many
levels of Israeli society, on both social and traditional media, from football
fans, police officers, media commentators, religious leaders, legislators, and
government ministers. This can be understood in varying degrees as incitement
to racism, hatred, and violence. The evidence shows that the speech and
language used in the summer of 2014 did, on occasion, reach the threshold where
it can only be understood as constituting direct and public incitement to
genocide.
25. Some of this incitement, in a manner
similar to genocidal situations elsewhere, is characterised not only by
explicit calls for violence against the target group, but in the employment of
sexualised (rape), gendered, and dehumanising memes, motifs, and prejudices.
The RToP heard evidence of multiple examples of such incitement. One notable
instance being Israeli legislator Ayelet Shaked’s widely reported publication
in July 2014 defining ‘the entire Palestinian people [as] the enemy’, arguing
for the destruction of ‘its elderly and its women, its cities and its villages,
its property and its infrastructure’, and stating that the ‘mothers of
terrorists’ should be destroyed, ‘as should the physical homes in which they raised
the snakes.’
26. The RToP notes that the legal definition of
genocide demands proof of a specific intent on the part of the perpetrator not
simply to target people belonging to a protected group, but to target them with
the intention of destroying the group. It would be for a criminal court to
determine whether such specific intent is present in a given situation, on the
basis of scrutiny of the relevant evidence for the purposes of prosecution of
such crimes. The RToP notes that alternative, broader understandings of
genocide beyond that defined for the purposes of individual criminal
responsibility have also been suggested as applying to the situation in Gaza.
The cumulative effect of the long-standing regime of collective punishment in
Gaza appears to inflict conditions of life calculated to bring about the
incremental destruction of the Palestinians as a group in Gaza. This process
has been exacerbated by the scale of the violence in the Operation Protective
Edge, the continuation of the siege of Gaza and the denial of the capacity to
rebuild. The Tribunal emphasises the potential for a regime of persecution,
such as that demonstrated in section III above, to become genocidal in effect,
In light of the clear escalation in the physical and rhetorical violence
deployed in respect of Gaza in the summer of 2014, the RToP emphasises the
obligation of all state parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention ‘to take such
action under the Charter of the United Nations as they consider appropriate for
the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide.’ 10
27. The prohibition of genocide – and of direct
and public incitement to genocide – constitutes a jus cogens (non-derogable)
norm of international law. According to the 1948 Genocide Convention,
individuals who attempt or who incite to genocide ‘shall be punished, whether
they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private
individuals’. It is thus incumbent on all states to take the appropriate action
in line with their legal obligations to investigate and prosecute those
responsible for such crimes. It is further incumbent on all states to ensure
that the state of Israel does not, through the persons of its military and
government ‘engage in conspiracy, incitement, attempt and complicity in genocide’.
28. The evidence received by the Tribunal
demonstrates that the state of Israel is failing to respect its obligations to
prevent and to punish the crime of direct and public incitement to genocide.
This is in keeping with the warning issued by the Special Advisers of the UN
Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, and on the Responsibility to
Protect, in July 2014, in response to Israel's actions in Palestine: ‘We are
equally disturbed by the flagrant use of hate speech in the social media, particularly
against the Palestinian population’. The Special Advisers noted that individual
Israelis had disseminated messages that could be dehumanising to the
Palestinians and had called for the killing of members of this group. The
Advisers reasserted that incitement to commit atrocity crimes is prohibited
under international law.
29. Previous sessions of the RToP have
established that the Israeli state is implementing an apartheid system based on
the dominance of Israeli Jews over Palestinians. Beyond the prolonged siege and
collective punishment of the Palestinians of Gaza, the ongoing settlement
project in the West Bank, and the now regular massive military assaults on the
civilian population of the Gaza Strip, one must add the increase in aggravated racist
hate speech. It is recognised that in a situation where patterns of crimes
against humanity are perpetrated with impunity, and where direct and public
incitement to genocide is manifest throughout society, it is very conceivable
that individuals or the state may choose to exploit these conditions in order
to perpetrate the crime of genocide. Alert to the increase in anti-Palestinian
speech which constitutes the international crime of direct and public
incitement to genocide, and the failure of the Israeli state to fulfil its
obligations to prevent and punish incitement to genocide, the RToP is at this
time compelled to place the international community on notice as to the risk of
the crime of genocide being perpetrated. The jury has listened to alarming
evidence over the course of this extraordinary session; we have a genuine fear
that in an environment of impunity and an absence of sanction for serious and
repeated criminality, the lessons from Rwanda and other mass atrocities may
once again go unheeded. 11 V. Consequences & Action
30. In view of the above findings, the Russell
Tribunal on Palestine calls on the state of Israel to immediately: ·
end the occupation and respect the Palestinian right to self-determination; ·
fully respect its obligations under international law; ·
provide full reparations to the victims of human rights violations; ·
release all political prisoners; · genuinely investigate
and prosecute any individual suspected of being responsible for international
crimes; · act to prevent and punish any acts in
violation of the Convention Against Genocide.
31. To Israel and Egypt: ·
Immediately lift the siege and blockade of Gaza and permit the unhindered
reconstruction of the Gaza Strip as well as permitting unhindered access to
media, humanitarian, and human rights organisations.
32. To the European Union: ·
In line with EU policy on restrictive measures, to pursue the objectives of
preserving peace, strengthening international security, developing and consolidating
democracy and the rule of law, and respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms, to adopt restrictive measures against Israel, and specifically: o to
suspend the EU-Israel association agreement; o to suspend the EU-Israel
scientific cooperation agreement and to immediately cease cooperation with
Israeli military companies; o to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel,
including prohibitions on the sale, supply, transfer or export of arms and
related materiel of all types; and the prohibition on the provision of
financing and technical assistance, brokering services and other services
related to military activities; o to suspend the import of all military
equipment from Israel; · To actively encourage
Israel and Palestine to immediately ratify the Rome Statute in line with EU
policy on the International Criminal Court; · To claim reimbursement
for damages to EU and/or member state funded infrastructure destroyed by the
Israeli military; · All EU member states
to recognise the state of Palestine; · To advocate and act
for the implementation of the International Court of Justice recommendations in
its 2004 Advisory Opinion on the legality of the Wall.
33. To UN member states: ·
All states to cooperate to bring to an end the illegal situation arising from
Israel’s occupation, siege and crimes in the Gaza Strip. In light of the
obligation not to render aid or assistance, all states must consider
appropriate measures to exert sufficient pressure on Israel, including the
imposition of sanctions, the severing of diplomatic relations collectively
through international organisations, or in the absence of consensus,
individually by breaking bilateral relations with Israel; ·
The UN General Assembly to call for a full arms embargo against the state of Israel;
12 · All states to fulfil their duty ‘to take such
action under the Charter of the United Nations as they consider appropriate for
the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide’; ·
The United States and member states of the European Union to cease exercising
pressuring on the Palestinian authorities to refrain from engaging the
mechanisms of international justice; · All parties to
cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry and to ensure
that the Commission is granted full access to Israel and Gaza for the purposes
of its investigations; · UN Human rights
mechanisms to investigate the violations of the fundamental freedoms and rights
of journalists, media workers, and medical personnel; ·
Donor states to undertake a full reconfiguration of the international aid
regime in Palestine, such that it ceases to underwrite Israeli occupation and
destruction; · All States to support
full realisation of Palestinian self-determination including full Palestinian
membership of the UN; · In light of the
Responsibility to Protect doctrine, all states to ensure that in light of the
continued denial of Palestinian human rights steps are taken to prevent further
atrocities.
34. To the Palestine authorities: ·
The state of Palestine to accede without further delay to the Rome Statute of
the International Criminal Court; · Fully cooperate with
the human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry; · Fully engage the
mechanisms of international justice.
35. To Global Civil Society: ·
To fully support, develop, and expand the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
movement; · To support activism aimed at denying Israeli
firms and organisations supporting or profiting from the occupation access to
international markets; · To show solidarity
with activists taking action to shut down firms aiding and abetting the
commission of crimes against Palestinians such as Elbit Systems in the UK; ·
To actively lobby and pressure governments to take immediate action to ensure
they are not contributing to Israeli crimes and to ensure they are acting in
line with the edicts and principles of international law. I wish for you all,
each of you, to have your own motive for indignation. This is precious. When
something outrages you, then you become militant, strong, and involved.
Stéphane Hessel
REPORTING
THE ISRAEL INVASION OF GAZA FROM THE PALESTINIAN POINT OF VIEW
The
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs included a dozen articles about the invasion, and
several others partly. WRMEA is the antidote to the pro-Israel
bias of the US Media and Congress. [Dick’s
annotations of the first three.]
--“Cease-Fire
Follows Cease-Fire But Gaza Remains a Prison” by Rachelle Marshall. [The title could be “But Remains Destroyed.” Gives several instances of Israeli war
crimes.
“Although there is no evidence that Hamas used civilians as human shields there is ample evidence of Israeli war crimes….” Marshall is member of Jewish Voices for Peace. ]
“Although there is no evidence that Hamas used civilians as human shields there is ample evidence of Israeli war crimes….” Marshall is member of Jewish Voices for Peace. ]
--“’Son
of Death’ Mohammed Deif” by Uri Avnery.
[Avnery, former member of Israeli Knesset and founder of Gush Shalom, I
met in Israel. Story of Deif, commander
of Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, who barely escaped death, but his family did
not. Now he leads the Israel “Most
Wanted” list, “No. 1 ‘Son of Death.’”
Article also explores several questions:
Why did Hamas rocket in middle of cease-fire? Who fired the rockets?]
“’Even
If Israel Destroys Our Homes, We Will Never Leave,’ Gazans Vow” by Mohammed
Omer. [An account of the destruction of
the village of Al-Fokhari as an example of the 7-week destruction of Gaza,
where “more than 2,100 people were killed and 11,000 injured,” 3,000 of the
injured children, 1, 000 permanently disabled, and 1,800 children now orphans,
and 450,000 Gazans fled to U.N. shelters.]
Sep
21, 2014
Dear
subscriber and endorser --
The
following is Gaza's Ark weekly digest of 1 posts in all languages on our
website:
*
תיבת עזה ספגה פגיעה מכוונת על ידי ישראל
Thank
you for keeping informed about our work.
Together
we can break the blockade of Gaza!
Best
regards, Gaza's Ark
Gaza’s Ark’s Weekly Digest
|
[GazaArk] Statement from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition: Open
Gaza Port
Français - Español - Italiano - Português - Deutsch -
Dansk - Svenska - Norsk - ελληνικά - العربية - עברית :
http://www.gazaark.org/translation/ Statement from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition December 8, 2014 The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. Israel is not being held accountable for the damage it caused during its assault on the strip nor for the commitments it made as a part of the Egyptian brokered agreement to end hostilities. The port of Gaza remains closed and borders remain blocked and Palestinians in Gaza continue to be denied their basic right to freedom of movement. Gaza continues to suffer from the lack of basic supplies and materials needed for daily life let alone rebuilding what Israel damaged during its July/August assault. The International community did not meet the obligations it made to Gaza after the assault either. In the shadow of these circumstances the Freedom Flotilla Coalition met in Athens on December 6th and 7th to follow up and revise plans for the upcoming flotilla: Freedom Flotilla III: Open Gaza port. In this meeting, following the previous meeting in Istanbul last August, details were finalized for "Open Gaza Port" (OGP) to sail during the first half of 2015 with a flotilla of at least 3 ships, reflecting the urgency, wide interest and diverse public support to the project and taking into account the above mentioned grave situation in Gaza. More details about OGP will be released over the coming weeks. Freedom Flotilla Coalition members: Canadian Boat to Gaza European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza Freedom Flotilla Italia Gaza's Ark IHH International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza (ICBSG) Rumbo a Gaza Ship to Gaza Greece Ship to Gaza Norway Ship to Gaza Sweden also participating in the project: Palestine Solidarity Alliance - South Africa Miles of Smiles Life Line Gaza – Jordan
Update and Financial report
from Gaza's Ark Dear supporter; We would like to provide you with a summary of the Gaza's Ark project as it stands now and what we have achieved over the last couple of years. As you know, our boat was destroyed by the Israeli military during the Israeli assault on Gaza in July, the second time the Ark was deliberately targeted [http://www.gazaark.org/2014/07/14/gazas-ark-deliberately-targeted-by-israel/]. By attacking Gaza’s Ark twice in less than three months, Israel obviously deemed the Ark a huge threat to its propaganda and criminal actions. Our peaceful efforts were, and will continue to be, stronger than their arsenals. We will continue our work with our partners in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to challenge the blockade of Gaza until it ends. We are putting Gaza's Ark on hold for now, until the situation becomes more suitable to resume it or similar work to challenge the blockade from inside Gaza. Trade not Aid - Palestinian products: Successful aspects of our ongoing work include the export product promotions and sales which link Palestinian producers in Gaza to solidarity purchasers around the world. Thanks to individuals and organizations in Europe, North America and Australia, we arranged over $25,000 in export contracts for Palestinian producers in Gaza. Of that amount, over $14,000 was for traditional food items, which were recently donated to needy Palestinian families in Gaza with the help of our friends at MECA [http://www.gazaark.org/2014/12/18/meca-distributes-local-food-packages/]. The remaining non-food products (e.g. traditional embroidery, textile and woodworking items) are being stored by our partners in Gaza until the conditions are right for them to once again be part of challenging the blockade from the inside. Meanwhile, we will continue to develop direct links between Gaza producers and solidarity organizations throughout the world, and we will continue to raise the issue of Palestinian export trade (not aid), in the wider context of freedom of movement for all Palestinians. Financial Report: Your support is what has brought Gaza's Ark this far. You contributed $341,000 (all figures in Canadian Dollars) to the project. We bought the fishing trawler which became Gaza's Ark for $87,000. Over the period between May 2013 and July 2014 we spent $131,000 modifying, upgrading and refurbishing it which went to the local economy, much of it payments to local workers. Other expenses (including travel and administrative costs) amounted to $18,000. Professional services (legal, accounting, management and other service fees) totaled $58,000. All Steering Committee members were volunteers none of whom received any payment for their work. We started the project with $22,000 - mostly money remaining from the Canadian Boat to Gaza Tahrir project of 2011. Main contributions after this came from Canada, $130,000, the US, $57,000 and Australia, $24,000, while our FFC partners contributed $74,000 which included sizable donations from partner campaigns in France, Turkey,South Africa, Norway, Sweden and others. What will remain, after covering payables and selling some remaining assets in Gaza, is estimated at $45,000 which we will put towards work on the same line we are following since we started in 2010: challenging the Israeli illegal and inhumane blockade of Gaza through non violent direct action such as the FFC's Open Gaza Port (FF3) announced lately. We will continue to count on your support. Together we will succeed. In solidarity; Gaza's Ark Steering Committee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza%27s_Ark (Gaza's Ark Wikipedia page) |
||||||||||||||||||
Noam
Chomsky. “The Crass and Brutal Approach Used to Keep
Gaza Mired in Misery.” AlterNet , Reader
Supported News, Oct. 4, 2014.
Chomsky writes: "On Aug. 26, Israel and the Palestinian Authority both accepted a cease-fire agreement after a 50-day Israeli assault on Gaza that left 2,100 Palestinians dead and vast landscapes of destruction behind."
READ MORE
Chomsky writes: "On Aug. 26, Israel and the Palestinian Authority both accepted a cease-fire agreement after a 50-day Israeli assault on Gaza that left 2,100 Palestinians dead and vast landscapes of destruction behind."
READ MORE
TWO
REPORTS FROM DEMOCRACY NOW
|
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|
Demolition
of Gaza in Context of WWI
Democracy Now, A DAILY INDEPENDENT
GLOBAL NEWS HOUR
with
Amy Goodman & Juan González
The
Guns of August, AUGUST 28, 2014
By
Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan
In her epic, Pulitzer Prize-winning book “The Guns
of August,” historian Barbara Tuchman detailed how World War I began in 1914,
and how the belligerence, vanity and poor policies of powerful leaders led
millions to gory deaths in that four-year conflagration. Before people realized
world wars had to be numbered, World War I was called “The Great War” or “The
War to End All Wars,” which it wasn’t. It was the first modern war with
massive, mechanized slaughter on land, sea and in the air. We can look at that
war in retrospect, now 100 years after it started, as if through a distant
mirror. The reflection, where we are today, is grim from within the greatest
war-making nation in human history, the United States.
In the early years of the 20th century, the leaders
of the nations of Europe had contrived a web of alliances, each treaty binding
one country to join in the defense of another in the event of war. When the
Austrian emperor’s son, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, visited Sarajevo on June 28,
1914, 19-year-old Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated him. As
Barbara Tuchman writes in her book, published in 1962, Austria-Hungary attacked
Serbia, which set off a chain reaction, involving Russia, France, Belgium and
Great Britain in the war against Austria-Hungary, Germany and the Ottoman
Empire.
After the war plans of the various powers failed, a
period of brutal trench warfare began, with millions of lives lost under a
relentless barrage of mortars, machine guns, mustard gas and newfangled
airplanes outfitted with machine guns and bombs. By the war’s end, an estimated
9,700,000 soldiers would be dead, along with 6,800,000 civilians killed.
What, if anything, have we learned from the disaster
of World War I? Look no farther than Gaza, or Ferguson, Mo. After nearly 50
days of the bombardment of Gaza with Israel’s intensely lethal, high-tech,
U.S.-funded arsenal, Palestinian health officials put the number of Gazans
killed at 2,139, of whom over 490 were children. Israel reported 64 soldiers
killed as a result of its ground invasion of Gaza, with six civilians dead. The
narrow Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated places on Earth, suffering
under an Israeli-imposed state of siege, is now a pile of rubble through which
people pick, searching for the bodies of loved ones.
Click
here to read the full column posted at Truthdig.
Listen and share Amy Goodman’s weekly podcast
on SoundCloud.
By Marjorie Cohn, Marjorie Cohn's Blog | Report
By Marjorie Cohn, Jurist | News Analysis
By Marjorie Cohn, Truthout | News Analysis
LEARN ABOUT
ISRAEL AND PALESTINE FREE
 |
|
Dear Dick--
Did you hear that Israel has made the largest land appropriation in the West Bank in 30 years? Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer said that the move was "a knife in the back of (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas, and it sends a message to the Palestinian people that the government of Israel is negotiating with Hamas, while at the same time destroying any chance to reach a true accord with the moderate people." Do you want to know what the Israeli government says about this? Do you want to know how the U.S. government, the Israeli people and the Palestinian Authority have reacted? News Nosh, APN's news service, searches through all the news for you. You could surf the web for Israeli news sites, struggle with Hebrew and pop-up ads, or you can let APN do the work for you. Every day. For free. That's right: You can get a daily review of the Israeli Hebrew press, comprehensive yet concise, emailed to your inbox to read with your morning coffee, absolutely free. Where's the catch? No catch. We supply this service because we think that it's important for people like you to know what's happening in Israel, particularly during difficult times like these. News Nosh, APN's news service, searches through all the news for you. Click here to read a sample from today's News Nosh!
News Nosh
arrives "on your doorstep" (in your inbox) first thing in the
morning for you to peruse with your morning coffee. If you want to keep up
with what's happening in Israel, there's no better way to do so. APN offers
the top news aggregator, for free. All you need to do is sign up.
It's time for a Nosh! Thank you, Debra DeLee CEO, Americans for Peace Now
You can
contribute to APN without it costing you a penny
0.5% of your
eligible purchases can now be donated to Americans for Peace Now. Go tosmile.amazon.com, and after signing in (register with
Amazon if you aren't already), search for and select "Americans for
Peace Now." Start shopping and giving >
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CONTACT
PRES. OBAMA
CONTACT
PRESIDENT OBAMA
The President Wants to Hear from Us
From the White House: Write or
Call
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administration in American history. That begins with taking comments and
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Contents
Gaza Newsletter #5
End
the Occupation, NATIONAL RALLY JULY 24
Attack,
Civilian Deaths
Barnard, NYT, Civilian
Toll Climbing
Video of Bombing Victims on a Street
Amy Goodman, Gaza Hospital Bombed
Protest
August
2 March
SEVERAL
FROM TIKKUN
Intro. By Rabbi Lerner
Hass,
Gazans Killed
Israel
Provoked This War by Henry Siegman
Ponomarev,
Gaza a Living Hell and Goya’s “Third of May, 1808
Morally
Depraved Zionist Regime
Poem by
Hammad
Yoffie on
US Jews
End the Occupation
Avnery, Netanyahu’s Stupidity
Jewish Voice for Peace
Judis, Who’s Most Responsible?
Chris Hedges, Palestinian Right to Self-Defense
HAW Statement
The Nation, Impunity
Rabbani
Amy Goodman, Democracy
Now
Niemela, Myths
Omer, Two Articles on Nowhere to Run or Hide
War Resisters League, Actions and a Film
Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR): No Support
for Israeli War Crimes
Action Alert: What We Can Do
Jewish Opposition to the Invasion
Gaza’s “Ark” Destroyed
Contents
of Gaza Newsletter #6
Expressions
of Outrage Against the Brutal Invasion to Wipe Out Gaza
Michael Albert, Get Out of Gaza, End the Occupation
of Palestine
Amy Goodman, Democracy
Now: Chomsky and Other Indignant
Voices
Chris Hedges’ Essays on Gaza
Noam Chomsky, “Outrage’
Coalition for Grassroots Progress, US Complicit,
Culpable for Atrocities, Contact
Your Congressional Reps
Your Congressional Reps
A.N.S.W.E.R. March on DC
Jewish Voice for Peace: Invasion Worsening, Where Are the Jewish
Peace
Voices?
Voices?
Gaza’s Ark Reports
Maps Show Israeli Conquest of Palestine
Contact President Obama
END GAZA NEWSLETTER #7
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